The final weekend of the NFL regular season is always a bit of a mixed bag. Twenty teams woke up on Saturday in the playoff mix and only a handful went to sleep on Sunday night turning their attention to playoff games. Teams have already started sorting through the aftermath -- and that includes, in some cases, searching for new head coaches -- but we're taking one last look back at the surprises and revelations from Week 18.
1) The Eagles went belly up. Head coach Nick Sirianni made the smart decision to pull quarterback Jalen Hurts and others just before halftime of the Giants’ 27-10 victory Sunday afternoon. The game was over -- and a prolonged playoff run was in jeopardy long before that, though. In 2023, the Eagles haven't looked like the team that nearly won the Super Bowl last year. Both sides of the ball were shaky, but the team kept winning, starting the season 10-1 and clinching a playoff spot early. And then the wheels flew off. The offense struggled to score against all but the worst teams, the defense couldn't stop anyone, including the worst teams, even after Sirianni took play-calling responsibility from defensive coordinator Sean Desai and gave it to Matt Patricia. It all came together Sunday, when the Giants took a 24-0 halftime lead, shredding the Eagles defense over and over, and finally prompting Sirianni to protect Hurts. Prior to Sunday, the Eagles had beaten the Giants 17 of the last 20 times they had played, and the Giants, already eliminated from the postseason, had only draft positioning on the line. The Eagles lost five of their last six games. The good news is they are 0-0 for the playoffs. The bad news is they have had all season to fix their issues and haven't been able to do it. Now injuries
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